Listen Kids! Harvard Researcher Wants You to Flip Burgers or Grab Other Low-Paid Summer Jobs for Teens

It is where no kid is too special - a Harvard researcher suggests teens to grab less glamorous summer jobs to learn more about life lessons.

Low-paid summer jobs for teens: It is where the real life lesson learned

Richard Weissbourd, faculty director of the Human Development and Psychology master's program, explains how less glamorous jobs like flipping burgers and scooping ice cream could give the real life lesson to teens.

Instead of applying an internship at high profile companies or family-owned businesses, these less-glamorous jobs offer 'a view through different lens' on how people are treated, Suntimes reported.

The working cultures in low-paid jobs will enable teens to meet different people, how hard they work and even how rude they can be. Weissbourd claims that these jobs are 'having meaning'.

The less glamorous summer jobs for teens could give a new perspective for them

Irene Smith is a specialist in college consulting. She recalled a female student who had a summer job in fast-food chain restaurant and got accepted in Ivy League schools due to her broad-minded thinking. She admitted that the summer job has changed the way she sees the world.

Weissbourd who wrote a report on college admissions topic said that college admission process has to be reshaped. In his Harvard report, Weissbourd recommends creating more engagement with the public and also improving students contributions across class, culture or race.

Summer jobs for teens that can build characters

It is important to help kids understand that it takes a responsibility to manage time and pay the bills. And jobs can help teens to better understand who they are. According to author Michele Borba who asked 500 kids on what makes their empathy grow, these kids answered that they became more empathic with other people when they come out of their shells.

Jobs can help them to 'nurture' empathy - which according to Borba, is the key to succeed in the future.

What kind of summer jobs for teens do you think can change the way people view the world?